No Trash, Just Truth! - Proverbs 9:10 Ministries

Episode 83 - Third Eye Blind

April 19, 2021
No Trash, Just Truth! - Proverbs 9:10 Ministries
Episode 83 - Third Eye Blind
Show Notes Transcript

One of the latest trends, practices, and conversations on social media right now is opening your "third eye." What exactly is the third eye? What benefits come from opening it? Where did this belief and practice originate? Is there any validity to it? Is this something Christians should be dabbling in? And most important, what does the Bible say about it? Yes, believe it or not, the Bible, does have something to say on this subject! Tune in and find out!

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Are You Third Eye Blind?

         Welcome back! Rose, have you ever had a feeling or an idea that something was gonna happen and then it did? Or have you ever just had this notion that you shouldn’t do something and so you didn’t; or that you should do something, so you did, and it turned out to be a good thing? Or how about just having that “hair standing up on the back of your neck’ type of feeling because you just “knew” something was off or wasn’t right; you “sensed” something about someone, but couldn’t explain why?

        I would say just about everybody’s had those type of things happen to them. Sometimes we “have a hunch” about something and then it comes to pass. Sometimes it feels like we can sense danger. Sometimes we “feel” like we should do something, so we do without necessarily having a concrete, definitive reason and it turns out good. 

        As Christians, we would say that those things happen sometimes because the Holy Spirit is guiding us. 

The Holy Spirit does guide believers. First and foremost, He guides us by helping us grow in our understanding of special revelation— meaning, the Scriptures. But not just that. In Acts 16:6-7, it says Paul and Timothy, “went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” That’s an example of the Holy Spirit’s guiding. And, we also live and walk by the spirit according to Galatians 4:16. There are multiple examples a Christian could use to show that they are guided by the Holy Spirit. 

        Right! Another thing Christians have that helps us in this area is discernment

Christian discernment is something all Christians can and should gain some measure of by studying Scripture. Psalm 119:66 says, “Teach me good judgement and knowledge.” That’s part of discernment and something we should all desire as Christians. But it can be a special gift of the Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 12:10. Ligonier ministries defines discernment it this way: “the ability to make discriminating judgments, to distinguish between, and recognize the moral implications of, different situations and courses of action. It includes the ability to “weigh up” and assess the moral and spiritual status of individuals, groups, and even movements.” There’s definitely something to Christian discernment that’s more than just having factual knowledge. Ligonier describes discernment in some ways as something like a “sixth sense”. 

        Exactly. So those are two ways of describing how a Christian would classify “knowing” or “having a feeling” about something. But, of course, many times “knowing” or “having a feeling” comes from our knowledge about a situation, coupled with our reasoning and logic, etc. For example, let’s say, on a holiday, one of us may have a thought that our some of our kids might surprise us and come home unexpectedly. And what’s the first thing that pops out of our mouths when something like that happens?

        “I had a thought,” or “I ‘had a feeling’ that you might surprise us!”

        Exactly! But when we say that as Christians, we aren’t really stating that we have supernatural knowledge or foresight. Maybe we should rephrase the way we’d express that. In reality, we would say that it turned out that way and we had already thought about it being a possibility because 1) our kids like to surprise us and make us happy, and 2) it’s a holiday and so it would be a more likely time for a surprise like that. We would not classify that as a premonition or seeing into the future.

         Right! We wouldn’t say we had supernatural foresight. But proponents of this idea known as “having a third eye” would say that’s exactly what it is. And it’s something people claiming to be Christians are buying into more and more. And that’s our topic today: the Third Eye. 

        Yes. And right out of the gate we want to say that sometimes this is referred to as “the mind’s eye”, but that term is used scientifically when discussing people whose brain does or does not make mental images of things they’re actually seeing. So, we’ll stick with the term “third eye.”  

        The claim by evolutionists is that we had an actual “third eye” at some point, but through evolution, the eye went inward, and this became what is known as the pineal gland – a gland that humans and other creatures do actually have. It’s an endocrine gland which is found in the brain of nearly all vertebrate creatures. 

        This gland is located near the center of the brain and is responsible for producing serotonin and melatonin which aids in proper mood, digestion, sleep patterns, and memory.[1]

        People who claim we have a third eye claim it’s located between your eyebrows. In Hinduism, Buddhism or Taoism you’ll see that some of the statues they worship will have this eye actually located there. The “third eye” belief is also found in New Age practices and is a popular idea in sci-fi and fantasy books where wizards and witches have a “third eye” that gives them special knowledge or foresight.

        That’s exactly what proponents of the idea say it can do. With it, supposedly, you can reach a higher level of consciousness, gain enlightenment. You can also know what’s about to happen in the future through intuition and foresight because you have ability to see beyond the moment. 

        Something akin to seers or psychics.

        Yes. It can also give you ESP (extra-sensory perception) that allows you access information you can’t gain through the physical senses. 

In the Taoism tradition, the third eye supposedly allows you to tune in to the correct “vibration” of the universe. And they claim you can also have out-of-body experiences and talk to the dead, which we explained on last week’s episode isn’t possible because souls are immediately in heaven or hell at death. 

        And, as always, there’s a laundry list of things your third eye supposedly can help you with, (depending on which guru or snake oil salesman is talking, of course). All of it goes along with all the other Eastern meditation junk that’s out there. 

        This idea that we have a third eye is gaining more and more popularity around Christian circles. So we’re going to break it down and talk about why saying you are a Christian, but believing this is true doesn’t go together.

       Let’s break this down, starting with the false religions. We mentioned three religions Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism (and there may be more) that believe in this “third eye” thing.

        In Buddhism and Hinduism, this third eye is one of the supposed chakras or energy centers that many eastern religions claim you have in your body. 

        Just a refresher on that, people claim we have a line of “energy centers” called chakras aligned in our bodies and there is an omnipotent energy that moves up the line of these energy centers from bottom to top as they are “opened”. Opening happens, they say, by using eastern meditation techniques. 

        This is not true and it’s not biblical. It’s a practice we warned about in our first season in our alternative medicine podcast, episode number 33, and we went into more detail about it in the Yoga and martial arts episode #39 talking about awakening the Kandhulini spirit.

 

        Buddhists believe and practice eastern meditation to try to reach the state of Nirvana. A lot of people think they’re practicing Buddhism (particularly in the US and other western cultures) but they aren’t.     

Right. Buddhists try to reach enlightenment which, to them, is the end of suffering. They attribute suffering to desire. 

Yeah. So guess what? You really want to practice it, then get yourself on the eightfold path or steps to enlightenment. Know what the steps are? Getting rid of more and more of your desires by squelching them until you have no desires. Sounds fun, right? 

        So how about Hinduism. They believe souls are immortal, and that the goal is liberation of the soul from a cycle of constant death and rebirth. We talked about the idea of reincarnation NOT being a biblical idea in episode 26. But let’s just finish by saying how Hindus try to achieve this goal for their souls …. Following paths of duty, knowledge, devotion, doing the right thing, having right conduct, following a moral law, and following tedious religious laws of worship. 

        Let me just read something about that. I’m quoting from cru.or “Each year in southern India, millions of fervent Hindu worshipers endure a dangerous trek up a holy mountain, called Sabarimala, to pay homage to the Hindu god Ayyappa. In the mid-1990s, a 15-year-old boy named Aji Kumar joined the treacherous journey to fulfill the vows his Hindu parents had made to their god. Previously, the tedious worship of multiple gods proved unfulfilling for Aji. This pilgrimage, he hoped, would change that. According to legend, Ayyappa, one of more than 30 million gods in the Hindu religion, is a protector from evil and giver of good fortune. In preparation for the trip, Aji fasted for 41 days. Weak and malnourished, the teenage boy hiked up the 3,000-foot mountain without shoes, in accordance with sacred tradition. Aji was tired and afraid. Pilgrims literally fight each other to get to the shrine; in 1999 a stampede of worshipers killed 53 people. Along the way, Aji bathed in the Pampa River, which is said to release a person from a lifetime of sins. When he finally reached the 18 stairs leading to the shrine, he was so exhausted that he dropped the sacred articles he was carrying, and a policeman had to help him. “If you are the true God,” Aji prayed to Ayyappa, “then why didn’t you give me strength? Why didn’t you keep the sacred things from falling?” For years, his family adhered to the meticulous Hindu traditions. They attended temple services and followed specific worship creeds. They routinely bathed, fed and garlanded the idols. But they felt no peace.” End quote. So….. these are the types of religion you’re borrowing your idea of having a “third eye” from.

        Let’s just reiterate that we’re talking to people who are claiming to be Christians and yet practicing eastern meditation in order to “open their third eye”. You can’t be a Christian and believe in this other stuff or practice it! Christianity is about salvation available through Jesus who took the punishment we deserve, in our place, so that we could have a right relationship with God, and not suffer His wrath for eternity.

        Exactly. And those other religions are not about that at all. Jesus said, ““I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) You can’t have Christ and worship Him in any old way you think is best or you want to.

        Eastern religions and Eastern religious meditation is not a practice that Christians should participate in in any way. Christians should never participate in other religions. 

        Also, biblical meditation is studying the Scriptures and thinking about them to get understanding of them. Eastern religious meditation and Christianity don’t mix – ever! So people who claim to be Christians also claiming we have this third eye, which they’d have to practice eastern meditation to open, are apostatizing.

        Definitely. And then there’s the Taoism side of this. 

        The Taoism belief that opening this third eye supposedly aligns your vibrations with the universe is a problem for Christians too. This “vibes” thing could be an episode in and of itself, or at least part of one. Let’s say a few things about it though, because Christians shouldn’t believe in the “vibes” thing. 

        One aspect of that comes from people claiming they are “empaths” (not to be confused with an empathetic person). An empathetic person can sense what someone else is feeling and imagine what it’s like to be feeling those emotions. Someone claiming to be an empathic person (an empath) is one who claims they can actually experience the emotions of another, even becoming physically affected by those emotions and possibly knowing the motivations behind a person’s feelings or actions.

        That whole “empaths feel the vibes of others” stuff is New Age. 1 Corinthians 2:11 says, “Who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them?” We are not given that insight.

        Also, the universe containing psychic vibrations or energies isn’t a Christian belief either. There’s a New Age belief called clairsentience. Clairsentience is the perception of what is not normally perceptible by having “clear feeling,” much like people who claim to have clairvoyance say they can “see things” others can’t. Clairsentients claim they can tell the difference between “good vibrations” and bad ones.  

        None of that is provable, and it’s often a con game! Or it could be demonic activity giving you those goosebumps. Either way, not Christian! So, Rose, so far the verdict for all the reasons given for having and opening a third eye have been “NOT CHRISTIAN”. 

Nothing Christian about any of it so far! So, let’s start refuting more of these claims by Christians who are believing in having a third eye by seeing what the Bible says about psychics, fortunetellers, and future tellers, since this third eye is supposedly a path for doing these.

        And we’ll throw mediums in there again just for good measure since the third eye is also supposed to help you speak with the dead.     

        When King Josiah of Jerusalem had the Scriptures read to him, he, “got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols, and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the LORD’s Temple.” (2 Kings 23:24) 

        Deuteronomy 18:11 says, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD.”

        Leviticus 20:6 says, “I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community.

        Leviticus 19:31 says, ““Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

        Chris, what about out-of-body experiences? 

        How would it be helping your Christian walk? The truth is, it won’t! But let’s go further. Trying to have an out-of-body experience is spiritually dangerous. It’s a New Age and occult practice. 

       The dictionary defines occult as “hidden, secret and mysterious, particularly pertaining to the supernatural.” It includes things like astrology, magic, Ouija boards, tarot cards, Satanism, witchcraft, fortune telling and other things. These are dangerous practices because you’re messing with demonic forces. 

        That’s an important point because the people who believe in this third eye thing actually warn people about opening it. Rose, you want to read about the seven “dangers” they warn about?

        Sure! I’m quoting here, “1) Vivid dreams and nightmares. 2) scary-accurate intuition (You may become so good at predicting what will happen in your life (or how others behave) that you feel truly unnerved by it and find it daunting rather than useful.) … 3) you may become fearless or have a sense of being invincible or super-human.  it's important to note that an open third eye doesn't make you omniscient So, it's still important to think carefully about everything you choose to do in life. 4) Astral projection may happen. When you astrally project, part of you leaves your body and travels elsewhere. The trick here is to realize that there is nothing inherently dangerous about astral projection. You cannot get “stuck” outside of your body. Plus, nothing bad will happen to your body during the period in which you temporarily detach from it. 5) Your eye chakra could become overactive. You may develop a sensitivity to light or get uncomfortable headaches. 6) Third eye awakening can be confusing and scary. 7) Chaotic behavior may ensue. You may start behaving in inconsistent ways and have erratic behavior.

        Every warning you just read is backed up with information that’s supposed to be put your mind at ease about it. But if any of these bad things you just listed are demonically happening, the person’s in trouble! 

        Absolutely! We’ve said this before: a Christian cannot be indwelt with a demon. But a non-Christian can! And I think (at the very least) we’ve said enough to make people question if they really are a Christian if they’re believing this stuff! 

        We should remind our listeners that Satan is the father of lies according to John 8:44! So if you feel God is telling you to try these things, don’t! And Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that our own hearts are “deceitful above all things and desperately sick!” So, don’t “follow your heart” if it’s telling you to try to open your third eye!

        And that verse from Jeremiah speaks to one more thing: You can’t find truth within yourself. So “looking inward” for enlightenment isn’t going to help you. The thing that will help if you’re a Christian: getting to know God by reading and studying His Word. So let’s talk about why Christians seem want to believe in this.

     Well, as you know, there are a few reasons. First, there are false teachers. Some people who sound very biblical and maybe even seem Christian promote it. 

        Richard Rohr, a Catholic mystic, claims that opening your third eye through meditation will help you “know God better.” But he is biblically “off” in so many areas, we can’t even begin to go down that road in this episode.    

        One website we found talked about how the magi who came to visit Jesus as a little child had this special knowledge that even the Jews who were supposed to be looking for the Messiah didn’t have. And, the person’s conclusion was that the magis’ third eyes told them about Jesus and how to find Him! (huge line crossed – giving demons credit for something from the Holy Spirit)

        I believe there are some Christians that might not know better (although honestly, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t) and are buffaloed by things like the website or mystics like Rohr. 

        We, continuously, ad nauseum even, say, “Read and study your Bibles!” We say that so that people can spot false teaching and things that are not right.

        We do. All the time. Another reason some Christians want to believe this is true is what we talked about last week. Some people want to be able to communicate with their dead loved ones, and if you had a “third eye” that could help you do that, the emotional reasons would be a draw, but we gave many biblical reasons why the deceased can’t communicate with us. 

        So why are these people who claim to be Christians talking about “opening their third eye”? Because people want to believe this stuff.  They want to dabble in it, and they need to ask themselves why. Let’s talk about it! Sin is our default nature. When we sin, we get something out of it

        Like, we’re gluttonous because the food tastes good and it’s satisfying. We gossip about other people because it makes us feel good about ourselves. We engage in flirting because it makes us feel good about ourselves. We lie to protect ourselves. We don’t want to break off relationships God considers sinful because that’s painful to us emotionally. 

        Exactly. We get something out of sinning; some benefit (I’m not saying it’s good). Last episode we talked about speaking to the dead. That’s something mediums do. This episode we’re talking about knowing the future, like psychics. The Bible is VERY CLEAR about those. DON’T DO IT. 

        And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. 

        It is! Go through some of the Christian women’s groups on FB. People ask things like , can I have crystals? can I burn sage or smudge?

        What’s your point? They are basically saying God isn’t enough – what He has to offer isn’t enough, I want to have what Satan has to offer me. That these people like the Israelites who practiced syncretism, worshiping Yaweh as their national God, but worshiping false gods in hopes of having good crops, or fertility? Are these “Christians” (and I’m using that term loosely) worshiping God in church on Sunday, and somehow putting their trust in opening up some inner eye and having psychic abilities or the abilities to speak with the dead on Monday even though they know it’s forbidden? 

        Yes and no. I think there are some who truly do believe that you can worship the One True and Living God, but you can (and maybe should) rely on other things too; kind of like the Israelites. But I think there’s something different for most people, as there was for some of them back then probably too. We’re talking about dabbling in the New Age, the occult, or other religions while claiming to be a Christian! All of the sins we talked about, including the Israelites’ syncretism (in some ways at least), was an attempt to gain something for yourself. But what do you think you’re getting from “opening your third eye” if it’s not to emotionally connect with your dead loved one? 

        Like, what gain would there be if you really could have an out-of-body experience? Unless you truly believe in Buddhism or some other religion that claims you open these chakras and eventually reach Nirvana or something similar, is there any point?

        That’s the question. And if you want to follow another religion, then you’re not a Christian!

        So, what do you think is the underlying reason for a lot of chatter about this third eye, and many of the other things we’ve mentioned people asking about?

        I think it’s fascination. I think it’s fascination with the occult and they are totally deceived about it.

        I think people have always been fascinated by the occult. As a culture today we have a fascination with the occult, the scary, the edgy, the mysterious. It’s (a lot of times) why kids dabble with Ouija boards, it’s why people like scary movies (especially about the supernatural). It’s why we go to haunted houses, why people want to believe in ghosts, claim that demons are always messing them, you name it! Trying to get that “edgy” feeling seems much more scintillating than reading and studying your Bible so that you know God better.

        I think you hit the nail on the head. What other motivation could there be? You think you’re gonna have an out of body experience like what … some martial arts movies where the person is floating around in the air, or like Ghost? Really???? People doing this claiming to be Christians need to ask themselves is “Why am I enamored with this?” “What fascinates me about this?” There’s got to be some thing that makes you want to practice this stuff especially while you consider yourself a Christian. 

        Right. Because a Christian has new desires. That doesn’t mean we’re totally rid of the old ones. We’re still tempted to sin. But like we said, this is choosing to practice something that you’re most likely not getting instant gratification from. You say you’re a Christian, and you’ll put time and effort into “meditating while concentrating on the center of your forehead.” But do you spend time cracking open your Bible and reading a few chapters of it every day and praying for help to understand it? 

I’d say even the time you’re spending researching how to open your third eye, or writing to your Facebook group about being a Christian who does this, or asking advice if you should do one of the many other things we’ve mentioned, you have time to read and study.  It would be time much better spent studying your Bible! If you’re really a Christian.

      I know we said some harsh things today. But considering yourself a Christian, yet messing around with other religions, New Age ideas, or the occult sends up red flags. This is a warning and hopefully a wakeup call to really think about what you believe! It’s your eternity that’s at stake!

        Exactly. And the other point is that as Christians, we have to stand for truth! There’s so much misinformation and garbage out there for someone unaware to latch onto, we have to confront it with truth when we see it!  

        We’d like to leave you with some encouragement. If you consider yourself a Christian and you have time to consider practicing things like opening your third eye and other stuff linked with the occult; or, even if you only have time to be inquiring about whether you should or should not do these types of things on Facebook, then you DO have time to start reading and studying your Bible. 

        That might not seem like an encouragement, but we can both tell you that the sooner you start, the better off you’ll be. And when you do start reading the Bible and understanding it, it is really exciting.

       That’s right. Chris and I read from the same chronological Bible. It’s a paperback copy and they’re not very expensive and all the daily passages are in there ready for you to read each day. We actually text each other in the morning a lot of times with stuff that stuck out to us from that day’s reading, or about other parts of Scripture that came to mind because they relate to what we read that day. 

        So if you have someone you can do something like that with it’s even better. God will open your eyes to understand more and more and more if you’ll just ask him. So take that as an encouragement. I know we’ve done a lot of admonishing but take that encouragement.

    And when we put this episode together, it wasn’t with the intention of telling you this, but I’m just gonna throw it out there. We have a book coming out in June to help people understand the Bible called the The Bible Blueprint: A Guide to Better Understanding the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

        It gives an overview of each of the 66 books of the Bible so that when you read them you understand what’s happening. If you check out our website or keep listening to the podcast I’m sure we’ll talk about it when it comes out.                

        That’s all we have time for today. 

         

 

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

        

 



[1] Reese, Richie. “The Third Eye.” Crossway Ministries Inc. Crossway Ministries Inc, February 26, 2019. https://www.graceheals.org/blog/2017/2/17/the-third-eye.